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It's about a two block walk (which I'm fine with) to get from Joymonger's to the nearest stadium entrance. Preyer and Crafted about another block away.
Ideally, there would have been some ground floor retain in Carroll at Bellmeade though. It's right there by the stadium, not to mention a good number of apartment units above them. Maybe there will be some space left over after A-Loft is built to build a small section of retail there. Then you don't have to walk the few blocks, you walk from the parking lot to the establishment and from the establishment to the park across the street. With games about 70 days/nights a year, there would be a lot of natural times when there would be increased traffic. And with the hotels/apartments, you have more options within walking distance for those residents/guests.
That said, I just moved to the area about 6-7 months ago. I look forward to catching my first Grasshoppers game this year.
I would also like to see Battleground Ave , where Smith Street Diner is located and on the east side of Carroll at Bellemeade redeveloped into restaurants, sports bars, retail ect. That woild help maximize the number of restaurants and bars near the stadium. In fact maybe even close section of Battleground Ave to vehicle traffic and turn it into a restaurant row promenade with gateway entrances over the road on each end.
I think I know where one of the two proposed parking decks are going. Through some blog reporting, it was suggested that one of the parking decks may be built next to the performing arts center. Not sure if it needs to be built there considering the Bellemeade deck is diagonally across the street on North Elm but it could built there for anticipation for other nearby development. It has been suggested that a performing arts center deck would be sort of a bait and switch by not being included in the initial performing arts center project. Technically it would still be a part of the overall performing arts center development and when you include the deck, the performing arts center cost balloons to $110 million. Im not against the deck, I just hope that it incorporates street level retail, restaurants with a design that looks less like a deck and more like a mixed use urban building. Maybe even include an office element. These are ideas the city may be looking at because the dollar amounts are pretty pricey for just a typical parking deck. We cant have typical parking decks taking up prime real estate and taking away from the urban fabric. Right now a deck being built next to the performing arts center is just hearsay at this point.
I think it would be cool if Greensboro got a Hotel Indigo downtown in addition to the Aloft, Westin and Hyatt Place. Hotel Indigos are usually in renovated historic buildings although there are many new construction hotels. There are two historic buildings in downtown Greensboro that would be a good fit for a Hotel Indigo.
1. The 7- story Dixie Building
The Dixie building has very distinct architectural elements and a 60 room boutique Hotel Indigo would be a good fit. The building was constructed in 1904 so it's over a century old. Currently there is a restaurant called Cincys on the bottom floor and is one of the oldest restaurants in downtown Greensboro. I remember it being there in the late 80s. The Dixie Building is located on the corner of South Elm Street and February One Pl. across from the International Civil Rights Museum. It's also across the street from the Elm Street Center conference center where the Westin Hotel is going. I think it would help attract even more conventions and meetings to the conference center at the Westin if there were an additional hotel across the street. It's strategic to have a cluster of hotels near a conference center or convention center.
2. The second building that would fit the criteria for a Hotel Indigo is the 15-story Guilford Building. Because of the building's size, it could have a little more than 60 rooms. I would say 80 rooms and the rest of the building could have upscale apartments. The Guilford Building was constructed in 1926 and was actually supposed to be a hotel but it ended up being a bank in its early years. So you can say it's already designed for a hotel.
Personally I prefer the Dixie Building because of its proximity to Westin conference hotel site. The Dixie Building also has more architectural detail than the Guilford Building. Because of the number of hotels already being built or planned, I would try keep the number of hotel rooms under 100.
Looks like Roy Carroll will soon make an announcement about his next downtown project. It's either the Aloft hotel, which may include mixed-use elements or Project 561. Those are the only two other plans he has in the works for downtown....at least that we know of. Roy Carroll tweeted back on February 9th....
"Our new project for downtown Greensboro will be announced shortly. I’ve instructed our architects to make sure it has a lot of “wow factor”.
Looks like Roy Carroll will soon make an announcement about his next downtown project. It's either the Aloft hotel, which may include mixed-use elements or Project 561. Those are the only two other plans he has in the works for downtown....at least that we know of. Roy Carroll tweeted back on February 9th....
"Our new project for downtown Greensboro will be announced shortly. I’ve instructed our architects to make sure it has a lot of “wow factor”.
If he is referring to the Aloft project, its not going to look like those typical cookie cutter Alofts based on the comment he made. I'm really hoping that it will be more than just a hotel and include either office or residential along with street level retail or restaurants. DGI president Zack Matheny mentioned in the Triad Beat article about residential towers being planned near the ballpark so just maybe an apartment tower is a part if his Aloft project and will be constructed next to the Aloft or the Aloft and residential will be in one building. It would be nice to have an apartment tower overlooking the ballpark.
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